Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Magic Kingdom

Our last day at Disney World! So sad! Of course the fact that we were essentially going to start on a second vacation the next day helped assuage our grief ;). We really do realize how lucky we are to have had such an amazing trip. We just didn't know when or if we would ever fly the entire family to Florida again, so we figured we would try to pack it all in.

We saved Magic Kingdom for last. (In case you don't know, Magic Kingdom is almost identical to Disneyland.) While we love all of the parks, there is something nostalgically special about the original, and we wanted to end here. We knew that going on a Saturday it might be a bit more crowded. What we didn't know was that Ant and Dec, the hosts from Britain's Got Talent, would be there that day as well, doing some kind of broadcast. The combination of these two things made it a SUPER crowded day! It was challenging to navigate the crowds and took much patience to stand in long lines. Fortunately it started to clear out by early afternoon, and by the evening, there were hardly any lines at all.

Jesi was so excited when she found out Ant and Dec were there. She LOVES Britain's Got Talent!

Taylor and Parker get really intense with the Buzz Light Year ride competition:)

Christi and Sophi took a secret ride! The rest of us were waiting in another area and these two told us they would be back soon. They found this kind of train ride around the park and snuck off together:)

Sophi got her face painted. Where did she learn to pose like this?

We all rode the carousel. Guessing from the looks on their faces, do you think that Taylor and Parker felt a bit coerced?

Splash Mountain Selfie

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

It's a Small World:)

In front of Cinderella's castle.

If you look closely at Parker's shirt in the picture above, you can see that it is an image of Flynn Rider with the phrase, "Here Comes the Smolder." Christi gets oodles of credit for this fantastic shirt. It was a Christmas present for Parker, and she looked forever before she found the perfect one. In fact, if you've noticed, we've had Disney themed shirts on pretty much every day at Disney World and Harry Potter shirts at Universal. Santa (well, Mrs. Santa!) orchestrated this for us with our Christmas presents. And she was wise enough to know that if you purchase them before you go to Disney, you can actually get really good deals. Way to go Mrs. Claus!!!

We got to meet lots of princesses, and we tried to convince Parker that he needed to get a picture alone with Rapunzel, since he had such a perfect shirt for the occasion. I think he was too shy ;)

Our own little princess!

What an amazing trip! The things I've shared on the blog are just a small portion of the amazing experiences we had. The nightly shows, from the Star Wars extravaganza at Hollywood to Tinkerbell flying from Cinderella's castle at Magic Kingdom, were wonderful. The turkey legs were awesome! Space Mountain, Pirates of the Carribbean, The Indiana Jones stunt show, and so much more. What an incredible trip. And we were fortunate enough to leave it to go on a cruise. So. Much. Fun!!!

Meet Conner and Cali

When we fell in love 15 years ago, we started down a path that has been challenging, exhausting, and breathtakingly beautiful. Here we chronicle the blessings and stressings of parenting some pretty amazing children. We think they're the perfect travel companions as we look forward to the next fork in the road. Welcome to our journey.

Jeremy and Christianne

Taylor Jeremy--18

Parker Matthew--16

The red-headed social butterfly, he's our all-star athlete, top student, outdoor-loving, spunky second-born, with a heart of pure gold!

Jessica Anne "Jesi"--13

Our little princess with the big smile, Jesi loves dress-ups and tea parties, reading, playing with her siblings, and snuggling. She sparkles!

Jacob Michael-- 6/8/2004

Little one of heavenly birth, born too soon to bloom on earth. You have taught us so much--we love you, Jacob!

Emily Anne "Emmy"--9/28/2005

Emily's exquisite little hands and feet have left their mark in this world. Her body was tiny, but her spirit enormous. We miss her!

Elizabeth Mei "Elli"--12

Elli's world may be dark, but she's the light of our lives! Lover of music, chocolate, and Mommy's arms, she brings joy to all who know her!!

Gracelin Kate "Graci"--18

Showing true grace throughout her battles with heart disease and pulmonary hypertension, our Gracester is loved by everyone! She's smart, gorgeous, friendly, and has faith to move mountains!

Alexander Philip "Xander"--12

With a spunk and smile that could outmatch anyone's, our Xander has not let Cloves Syndrome get the best of him. Adopted at age 4 from China, he loves having a family, eating junk-food, and playing with his many friends!

Alexis Li "Lexi"--12

Meet the friendliest girl on the planet! Blind from birth, Lexi amazes all of us with her braille skills, determination, talents, but mosly by the way she spends her days SMILING. She is an angel in every way. We are thrilled to have our darling daughter home six years from China!!

Sophia Breanne "Sophi"--8

Her eyes called out to us from half-way around the world. Little Sophi is beautiful, smart, and coy. She can do amazing things with her little toes and we think she's about the cutest thing on the planet! Welcome home, baby girl!

Calais Rose "Cali"--16

Charming Cali joined our family in December of 2012. This girl is beautiful both inside and out. Born with spina bifida, Cali is confined to a wheelchair, but that does not keep her from enjoying life to the fullest. She is smart, opinionated, strong, and lovely in every way.

Conner Allen-- 16

Meet our newest addition! Wu Jia Xia is from Wuhan City in China. Blind from birth, he will blow you away with his incredible talent on the piano. More importantly, he is sweet, witty, kind and finally, OURS! Welcome home, Conner!